Hops and beer are just about synonymous.  I mean, most everyone knows that the use of hops in brewing beer is universal… right? Well apparently not.

Uncommon Brewers is certainly uncommon among California brewers. Unlike most West Coast breweries that feature hops in most of their beers, this Santa Cruz brewery does not.

Full article here

California State Senate Majority Leader Ellen Corbett got a little beer shower tapping a firkin of “Winter Warmer” at Drakes Brewing Company in San Leandro, CA.  Senator Corbett visited the brewery, enjoyed a draft, and lent her support to California Craft brewers.

Former collaborators, turned rivals, turned collaborators again to produce Allies Win the War, a collaboration beer by Shaun O’Sullivan and Nico Freccia of 21^st Amendment Brewery in San Francisco and  Jamie Floyd of Ninkasi  Brewing Co in Eugene, Oregon.

The name, O’Sullivan elaborates, is “a play on the idea of rivals coming together for the greater good of the world.”

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Barbara Gerovac, co-founder of Anaheim Brewery found the art of brewing beer fun. With co-owner and husband Greg they reprised the prohibition era Anaheim Brewery and opened the doors a couple of years ago. When it comes to brewing beer many think men, but ladies like Barbara Gerovac, are part of a group trying to change those misconceptions.

Barbara is also a member of the Pink Boots Society, a networking and educational organization of woman brewers

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Green Flash Brewing Company, a San Diego brewery known for inspiring deep devotion amongst its many followers will release Rayon Vert ™, a Belgian-Style Pale Ale, in January 2012. Rayon Vert is the product of a 4 year long development process and will be bottle-conditioned with Brettanomyces, a wild yeast.  Beer  Advocate comments , “Because it is bottle conditioned, the beer will continue to change with age and there is no way to foresee what it will taste like after years in the bottle”. That’s a bold move.

More here

A brand new 250bbl brewhouse being shipped to Lagunitas Brewing Co. as part of their major expansion project, hit a storm on the way into the eastern Caribbean. According to a Lagunitas Twitter stream, as the ship rolled back and forth by more than 40 degrees a crane came loose from its chains and crushed the brewhouse, sitting peacefully on deck. The 30′ diameter lauter tun caught the blunt of the attack, and appears to be a total loss.

Meanwhile two 40′ tall 750bbl fermenters just moored in Stockton CA port last night. Because they are too big to travel via truck, some components of the brewhouse will be barged as far as possible up the Petaluma River and then air freighted (that’s right — flown) via a “heavy lift” chopper.

Looking forward to seeing photos of a brewery flying over the city of Petaluma